This Isn’t A Library: Notable Releases To The Comics Direct Market



Here are the books that make an impression on me staring at this week's no-doubt largely accurate list of books shipping from Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc. to comic book and hobby shops across North America.

I might not buy all of the works listed here. I might not buy any. You never know. I'd sure look at the following, though.

*****

JUL130970 RASL COMP HC $39.95

JUN131272 SOCIETY IS NIX AMERICAN COMIC STRIP 1895-1915 HC $125.00

MAY130032 BEST OF MILLIGAN & MCCARTHY HC $24.99
I had no idea this was coming, and it's something I'd consider buying even thought I bet I own all of it in an earlier format -- I may not own Sooner Or Later. A better writer about comics than I am at this point could probably pen a pretty compelling piece on what it means that a pair of creators can make comics this routinely odd and pick up just enough sales momentum that a book like this ends up being a good idea. It reminds me of the comics equivalent of the fact that we can watch upper European crime serials on movie-delivery services now.

MAY130041 BPRD 1948 TP $17.99
There is usually a Mignola-verse title or two in the serial comic book format section of this report and since there isn't I thought I'd list this book here. I think these have a greater market presence now as a series of trades than they do as a bunch of comic books, but that's more a hunch on my part.

JUL130262 ASTRO CITY #4 $3.99
JUL130319 MARS ATTACKS JUDGE DREDD #1 $3.99
MAY130569 PROPHET #39 [DIG] $3.99
JUL130549 WALKING DEAD #114 (MR) [DIG] $2.99
JUL130963 ADVENTURE TIME CANDY CAPERS #3 $3.99
JUL130730 LOW SOCIETY ONE SHOT $4.99
JUL130908 SPONGEBOB COMICS #24 $2.99
These are the serial comic books that I'd love to see -- I was in a comics shop yesterday and noticed that the mainstream comics companies are in the midst of their Fall crossovers. I promptly bought about $20 worth and left them in a bar three hours later. So please tell me how they turn out. I think mainstream comics are fascinating right now for their general craft quality at the upper end, but it's not work that engages me. Like I understand that smart people of my acquaintance have a long-standing relationship with Law & Order TV shows, even though I barely watch them myself. From this list, I'd look at the new Kurt Busiek and whatever the hell that Judge Dredd crossover comic is. The Prophet I've read and it's as solid a mainstream sci-fi comic as it has been for a while now; that's not everyone's cup of tea but it is something being served that no one was even offering for a long, long time. The Adventure Time and Spongebob books I peek at in comics shops to see the creators involved -- I think the Spongebob has more creators in which I'm interested than the AT, at least this time out. The Walking Dead book wraps up its current storyline, featuring "Reggie Mantle on Steroids" bad guy Negan. They're doing a special accelerated publishing schedule for the next few months. The Low Society book is comedic riffs on Cerebus I believe published and facilitated by creator Dave Sim.

FEB131027 BILL EVERETT ARCHIVES HC VOL 02 HEROIC TALES $39.99
I love the entire career of Bill Everett and own these books, although there's a lot of rough reading and terrible comics in the first two volumes. You see a lot more Bill Everetts now than you used to, these creator with mainstream tastes that have enough juice and the ability to work in personally-informed fashion that they change what that world of comics offers, so I think it's fun to pay attention to the comics he was making.

MAY130800 CYBORG 009 HC $24.95
This is a super-handsome re-telling of the Shotaro Ishinimori 1960s/1970s manga in a style more directly reminiscent of European and North American comics traditions. The material is solid in a way that it can bear re-telling: it punches a lot of satisfying genre buttons. I am a little confused about the style change, though, as it seems that in a sense the original look of this material is far more commercial right now than this book's take.

JUL131374 LITTLE FISH A MEMOIR HC $15.99
I thought this was a different book altogether so I googled and ended up here. While it's not what I thought it was, it's also a sizable work from a cartoonist with whom I'm completely unfamiliar, which is something that happens these days far more than I'd ever admit.

JUL131094 LOUIS RIEL A COMIC STRIP BIOGRAPHY TP 10TH ANN ED $21.95
This is one of the great books of the '00s, and if you don't own one I would suggest you at least try it out. D+Q has done a nice job repackaging some of their works this way, so I bet it's a quality offering.

JUN131205 P CRAIG RUSSELL OPERA ADAPTATIONS HC SET $59.99
Works adapted include Wagner, Leoncavallo, Strauss, Mahler and Mascagni. I think these have been fairly influential comics in some circles, and I have to admit I have no idea what component works I own here and which would be brand new to me.

MAY131246 SLAINE THE KING GN CURR PTG (MR) $24.99
MAY131247 SLAINE TIME KILLER GN CURR PTG (MR) $21.99
This is material that I have never owned in any form, but seeing two books of it out at once would be tempting. God bless your store if they carry this work; not all stores have that wide of a purchasing strategy.

MAY131139 SUMMIT OF GODS GN VOL 04 $25.00
MAY130072 BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL TP VOL 27 MIST SPIDERS WEB (MR) $19.99
JUN138073 WANDERING SON HC VOL 05 $24.99
Great week for serial manga book publishing in terms of series with a kind of broad, mainstream-books appeal. The Summit Of The Gods book is probably the surprise here; its publishing history is much more haphazard.

JUL131168 UNIVERSE OF LIBERATORE HC (MR) $19.95
I have a nostalgic connection to Liberatore, and will look at anything that comes out with his name on it. That's a cartoonist that disappeared from the general conversation about comics a few years back, and I'm not sure on where we stand about roping him back in.

JUL131186 LITTLE TOMMY LOST TP VOL 01 $15.00
One of Koyama Press' forays into color comics, from the very interesting talent Cole Closser. I'm dying to take a look at this one, and it's hard to imagine a Koyama Press effort that an alternative comics fan wouldn't at least scope out in the comics shop.

FEB131021 LOVE AND ROCKETS THE COVERS HC (RES) $35.00
I enjoyed this book enough that I wanted to review it. One way to look at what the Hernandez Brothers have accomplished is to see their comics as a synthesis of mainstream comic-book craft, underground comics contrarianism and alternative/overground literary-leaning idiosyncrasy. You can see this in their covers, with designs that stood out against the four-color backdrop against which they were racked yet also forward-looking and influential. I've looked at mine a dozen times in the past two weeks.

JUL131153 BOXERS & SAINTS BOXED SET $34.99
Gene Yang is one of the nicest cartoonists in a field dominated by nice people, and his work evokes a similar sense of personal appeal. American Born Chinese was enough of a hit that it's both understandable and laudatory that Yang would pivot in the direction of an ambitious, sprawling epic rather than giving us a straight-up sequel: it's a career moment that both Craig Thompson and Alison Bechdel have enjoyed in recent years, and is one of my favorite things to watch from the vantage point of comics culture. One of the significant books of Fall.

*****

The full list of this week's releases, including some titles with multiple cover variations and a long, impressive list of toys and other stuff that isn't comics, can be found here. Despite this official list there's no guarantee a comic will show up in the stores as promised, or in all of the stores as opposed to just a few. Also, stores choose what they carry and don't carry so your shop may not carry a specific publication. There are a lot of comics out there.

To find your local comic book store, check this list; and for one I can personally recommend because I've shopped there, albeit a while back, try this.

The above titles are listed with their Diamond order code in the first field, which may assist you in finding comics at your shop or having them order something for you they don't have in-stock. Ordering through a direct market shop can be a frustrating experience, so if you have a direct line to something -- you know another shop has it, you know a bookstore has it -- I'd urge you to consider all of your options.

If I failed to list your comic, that's because I hate you.

*****



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